Comments on: Review of Dixon Ticonderoga Classic.

by: Zoasterboy

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 17:25:15 +0000

I’ve heard the Mirado Black Warrior vs. Dixon Ticonderoga battle for a long time, but I think the Tri-Conderoga defeats them both.

by: Matthew

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 16:50:36 +0000

I purchased a large 48 pack of DTs and was dissapointed with the quality, i looks at the barrel closely and realized something was missing, it no longer says Made in USA. Looking at the box. Mexico!

I am so dissapointed, how can I stick up on these older USA ones before they are all gone?

by: Simon

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 02:03:57 +0000

Unfortunately, it seems that Ticonderogas are not made in America anymore. What a pity.

by: 18Bravo

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 23:07:59 +0000

I personally think that ever since Ticonderoga moved their manufacturing plants to Mexico, their pencils are now…junk. The quality control is terrible. I bought a box of 48 pencils.
Here are my complaints:
1. The pencils came out of the box with a strange grayish dust. Doesn’t bother me alot.
2. The lettering on most of the pencils (more than 70%) was either printed off center, the letters were cut in half, or the letters globbed.
3. I sharpened my first pencil, as soon as I write with it, the tip breaks off. Most of the lead inside the pencil is not one continuous stick, but rather made of (probably broken into) 1.5 cm long segments. Not good.
4. The amount of adhesive to glue the two wood halves was below minimal. You could see the wood crack in half. Near the tip, where the lead was, you could see the wood splitting with the least amount of pressure.
5. Not only was the wood cheaply bonded together, the wood was also not properly bonded to the lead core. This resulted in wood separating from the lead, making a very weak point.

Now, I do have to agree, the eraser on the pencil is phenomenal. It outlasts the pencil itself.
I used to use the Ticonderoga Woodgrains. They look nice, and the quality was great. But now they aren’t sold at the stores near me, and I think that they too are now being made in Mexico.
I’ve been trying to find better pencils that are cheap enough that my dad will actually buy for me (asian parents are penny pinchers). I’ve been using mechanical pencils for a while, but they lack the balance as well as the long lasting point. I’m now trying the Mirado Classic.

by: tyler

Fri, 14 Dec 2007 23:18:40 +0000

I could reccomend a good handheld sharpener Jeremy. It’s the Staedtler Oval sharpener. It works good on my Ticonderoga hexagon shaped pencils. What I don’t like about it is that it ruins Tri-conderoga pencils in the oversized slot. It makes the points nice and sharp-but not too sharp so that the tip of the lead crumples when you write. It is also quality. A lot of the other handheld sharpeners were bad and just ruined the pencil, but this one doesn’t.

by: grampa dick

Sat, 06 Oct 2007 19:28:23 +0000

i am most sr type - plus left handed
i love “the round yellow ticondo” there is nothing like the feel - where can i purchase the round / like a box
today - i’m starting my art 101 for kids. i use a hex form graphite stick first - to get the feel of drawing
i am using a wood egg #1 / move on to #2 an apple - which they can eat !
comments welcome - for first timers - grampa dick

by: Brenda Anderson

Tue, 02 Oct 2007 13:09:13 +0000

I have found an old box of Dixon Ticonderoga 1388 No 3 pencils. It has a Revotionary-period soldier on the front of the box. Can you date these pencils for me?

by: Toconderoga #2

Wed, 02 May 2007 20:39:29 +0000

Thank god! People DO recognize the Dixon Ticonderoga as the greatest pencil out there!

by: Gene Justin

Sat, 07 Apr 2007 04:03:13 +0000

I like the Dixons but noticed a change. I purchased a twelve pack recently, and the barrels of several pencils were warped and not true. And they are no longer made domestically. If you read the packinging carefully, you find that they are made “for” American writers, drawers, and so on. They are no longer actually made in this country. They are made in Mexico.

I’ve seen the Black Warrior, situated directly above the Mirado Classic, at my Jewel grocery store. I buy the Classic. I used to think Dixon pencils were the best.

A hex pencil is good, for when your points are not perfectly symmetrical, you can use the sides of the pencil to establish relativity to the pencil’s point.

The strangest thing I observed was the consistent quality of a cheap, plastic pencil sharpener - a Fiskars sharperner carried inside a small plastic cup. I bought Kum sharpeners, and the ones that are made purely of metal for Dick Blick at 99 cents a pop, and sharpeners with beautiful glass ink-well bodies. Yet the cheap Fiskars puts a nice point on; I’ve lost more than one in my lack of organization, yet when I buy a new one (after buying more costly ones), the quality is actually consistent. You cannot get more Chinese when it comes to pencil sharpeners, yet SOMEHOW these generic sharpeners sold at Jewel put on a nice symmetrical and sharp point.

by: Samuel Fu

Wed, 07 Feb 2007 03:30:59 +0000

I like Ticoderoga woodgrains the best because they are high quality and are low priced. Other brands like Papermate are very cheap especially if you by the Papermate American. The American is made from cheap wood that snaps easily, and the older versions have a sucky eraser. Also, on the American, when you sharpen it, especially with grind sharpeners, the wood right behind the lead is very rough. The only drawback to Ticonderoga Woodgrains, is that the eraser part will occasionally fall off due to the binding. But then, you can just sharpen the other side and have dual points.